#PKTechWeekly Huawei Seed for the Future Program, Rate African Startups to Facebook and Google, ZTE and MTN partner to manage 5G in Africa,

Huawei Seed for the Future Program

Huawei Seeds for the Future program is a global program that was launched in 2008 with the purpose of seeking out collaborations with local governments, higher education institutes, and other organizations that can select top university students and young government officials working in ICT-related departments; to be offered a valuable opportunities to study and gain work experience at Huawei’s headquarters in China; and help them learn more about Chinese culture and gain cross-cultural work experience in a global business environment.

In Uganda the program successfully started in 2016, and approximately 10 ICT talents were taken to Beijing and Shenzhen Huawei headquarters. These were exposed to ICT industry trends and the newest technology. The program continued last year, 2017, with 10 students, and it’s important to note that out of the 10 students, one Maria Drolence was offered employment in Huawei, Maria Angella Namuleme was offered internship to continue training with in the Huawei Uganda office, and other three were offered employment in other companies while others continued with their education.

On Thursday 8th March, Huawei launched this year, 2018 ‘s program with 35 applicants forwarded by all government universities, of which 10 will be selected and leave for China on 6th April for two weeks. It is believed that the selected get enhancement abilities to adapt to the ICT industry as they learn more about state-of- the-art technologies and skills, as well as the innovation needs of the local market.

Can African Tech Startups Succeed in a World Dominated by Facebook and Google?

Across African markets, information and communication technology (ICT) is facilitating the process of socioeconomic developments. ICT has offered new ways of exchanging information and transacting business efficiently and cheaply. It has also changed the dynamic architectures of the financial, entertainment, and communication industries and provided better means of using the human and institutional capabilities of countries in both the public and private sectors.

The impact has been consequential: ICT is rapidly moving Africa toward knowledge-based economic structures and information societies, comprising networks of individuals, firms, and states that are linked electronically and in interdependent relationships. We have seen that redesign in Kenya, where MPESA, a mobile money solution, has emerged as the most important banking institution without a bank license. Even in agriculture, digital technology is working.

Sure, Africa has promising startups, but those are in extreme niche areas like agriculture tech and waste management tech, where there is no direct competition with the global tech giants. Apart from those areas, everyone is competing against global ICT utilities like Google and Facebook. We are learning that having more customers, which the internet provides, does not necessarily translate to more revenue, since getting those extra customers typically means offering things for free or discounting them. And global consumer technology powerhouses like Tencent and Google use customers to generate data that drives growth and revenues. These companies aggregate the data and scale massively with near-zero marginal cost, which is all made possible by the internet. Because they are ahead with an enormous number of users, they keep getting better, and the data they accumulate drives improvements in their algorithms. Changing this order is largely hopeless, and that creates a competitive stasis for local entrepreneurs.

ZTE, MTN Group partner to commercialize 5G network in Africa

According to the agreement, the two companies, in the framework of the existing cooperation, will carry out a series of evaluations and tests of technology verification in the field of 5G, to strengthen the leadership position of MTN and accelerate the commercialization of 5G in the East Next and Africa.

As the leading provider of integrated 5G solutions in the sector, ZTE will provide full technical support to MTN Group. Specifically, in the trials of the first phase of 2018, ZTE will work with MTN in laboratory and field tests of 5G NR, 5G virtual network partition, DevOps and vEPC in a container at carrier level and 5G Flexhaul support network.

With these tests on networks, applications and integral terminals, the two organizations will carry out the joint verification of the architecture of the 5G technology, the business model and the user experience, with the intention of laying a solid foundation for MTN Group to take the front in the deployment of 5G in the Middle East and Africa.

Non-profits need to become tech smart

From savvy millennial to retirees who have time and a wealth of knowledge under their belt, the way we give is increasingly becoming digital. Data released by www.forgood.co.za, a digital platform that connects people and corporations to reputable causes, shows that 26%, or one in four requests and volunteer interventions, are tech related. More than 13 000 social impact connections have been facilitated by the platform to date.

“Google really is your friend,” says Hadfield. “Besides being able to diagnose your latest medical condition, the Google Ad Grants programme offers over R100 000 a month in free advertising to non-profits – yes FREE. Use it to attract donors, tell your story and raise awareness. It’s almost criminal if you’re an active non-profit and you aren’t leveraging this.”

Google Apps for Business (email, calendar and online storage, all on your own domain name) are also offered at no cost to non-profits through the Google Grants programme; “Forget fancy internal servers and complicated software providers, store and access your data on the Internet through Cloud based services instead,” says Hadfield. “With Cloud you can access your information from anywhere and, you don’t have to worry about those old faulty donated hard drives losing all your data.”

Some of the biggest issues facing non-profit organisations are getting the word out about their cause and raising money. “A presence on Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram is a good start. But to ensure optimal engagement, don’t forget you need to pay-to-play. A small ad investment to a targeted audience could yield some serious donor cash and audience engagement,” says Hadfield. “Many organisations don’t know that the organic reach of social media is still around 2%. That’s the percentage of your audience you can reach without paying. Social media needs to be in your budget to really make it work for you.”

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is a Social Media, Content Creator and Marketer at Kahill Insights.
A Development Practitioner who has no self talent but is driven by curiosity and passion; in a nutshell she is a Multipotentialite. She believes in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit which makes her a Christian.